Denne returns to former aerodrome site in West Malling

Denne will again be on-site at the former West Malling Aerodrome site in Kent building more affordable homes for Rouse Kent on behalf of social housing provider Russet.

Having already successfully completed 250 affordable homes for this client on the Kings Hill site in West Malling, Denne has been awarded the contract to build another nine houses and ten apartments. Further funds have been provided by the Homes and Communities Agency.

The construction of these one and two bedroom apartments and two and three bedroom houses will mark the completion of the planned affordable homes at the new Kent village. Work started a decade ago on the old West Malling Aerodrome site, after the closure of the RAF base that previously occupied the site. The provision of affordable homes was part of the planning consent to construct a new village, which includes a mix of commercial premises as well as homes for private sale.

As with the previous phases of the scheme, the architects for this latest stage of construction will be Clague, Structural Engineers are Price and Myers and Davis Langdon are the Quantity Surveyors.

Paul Hicks, Russet’s Director of Development, said: “‘Russet had no hesitation in awarding the final phase of the Kings Hill contract to Denne. On previous phases they have consistently delivered a quality product, on time and within budget, and the close working relationship that has been established has led to increased efficiencies and greater value for money.’

Although the external appearance of these homes will match those already on the development, all of the new homes will be built to Code for Sustainable Homes Level 3 and will be timber framed. This method of construction differs from the previous phases due to a desire to design sustainability into the fabric of the building, rather than to add “bolt-on” devises such as solar panels in order to meet the requirements of the Code.